AB Science announces that the European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (EAACI) 2020 Annual Congress has accepted its phase 3 study results with masitinib in severe asthma to be delivered as a late breaking oral presentation

Paris, 7 May 2020, 6.45pm

The European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (EAACI) 2020 Annual Congress has accepted AB Science phase 3 study AB07015 results with masitinib in severe asthma to be delivered as a late breaking oral presentation

AB Science SA (Euronext - FR0010557264 - AB) today announced that an abstract reporting findings from its Phase 3 AB07015 study on severe asthma uncontrolled by oral corticosteroids, has been selected for an oral platform presentation at the upcoming European Academy of Allergy & Clinical Immunology (EAACI) 2020 Congress, which this year will be held digitally June 6-8, 2020.

Lavinia Davidescu (MD, PhD), Professor of Pulmonology at the University of Oradea, Romania, and coordinating investigator of study AB07015, will present key data from this positive Phase 3 trial as part of a Late Breaking Oral Abstract Session entitled ‘Allergy Diagnosis and Asthma’.

EAACI is one of the most prestigious academic meetings for pulmonary medicine and the world’s largest congress specializing in the field of allergy and clinical immunology. The Annual Congress regularly attracts 7,000-8,000 participants and experts from across the globe. Due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, EAACI will deliver the Annual Congress 2020 as a digital event consisting of pre-recorded content available beginning June 6, 2020 on the EAACI website.

Presented abstract texts will also be published on the EAACI Media Library and in the official EAACI journal ‘Allergy’ after the congress.

Professor Lavinia Davidescu said: “Unlike other drugs for severe asthma, masitinib targets the dual mechanisms of mast cell-related asthma pathophysiology and PDGFR-related airway remodeling. Selection of this abstract for a late breaking oral presentation at the upcoming Digital 2020 EAACI Congress is an indication of the interest being generated by this innovative approach and masitinib’s potential impact on the treatment paradigm for severe asthma.”

Olivier Hermine (President of the Scientific Committee of AB Science and member of the Académie des Sciences in France) said: “Biologics for severe asthma are typically only effective in patients with a high eosinophil count of greater than 300 cells/µL. In contrast, masitinib is effective across a broad population, regardless of the eosinophil level, and may therefore provide a new treatment option for biologic-ineligible patients or patients in failure to biologics”.      

Details for the presentation are as follows:

Presentation Title:          Efficacy and Safety of Masitinib in Severe Asthma: Eosinophilic Subgroup Analysis from Study AB07015

Session Title:                     Allergy Diagnosis and Asthma: Late Breaking Oral Abstract Session (LB OAS) Late Breaking Clinical Trials

Date:                                    Pre-recorded digital content will be available beginning June 6, 2020 at 9:00 am CEST on the EAACI website

Detailed results will be presented during the conference with an emphasis on data from a key predefined subgroup analysis in patients with initial eosinophil count of at least 150 cells/µL. It is the policy of the EAACI that all scientific research-related content included in an abstract to be presented at the EAACI Digital Congress be withheld until after the abstract has been presented.

Masitinib has a unique positioning in severe asthma, in terms of administration (oral administration), mechanism of action, targeted population, and broad eosinophil level.

Masitinib is a first in class oral drug in severe asthma, selectively targeting mast cells through inhibition of tyrosine kinases c-Kit, LYN and FYN. There is a strong scientific rationale to target mast cells in asthma and study AB07015 was the first positive large-scale study in severe asthma utilizing a drug targeting mast cells [1]. Additionally, masitinib is a potent inhibitor of Platelet-Derived Growth Factor Receptor (PDGFR), which is associated with airway remodeling in asthma [2]. Masitinib is therefore capable of simultaneously modulating independent mechanisms of asthma pathophysiology, which is an attractive therapeutic strategy for severe asthma.

[1] Bradding P, Arthur G. Clin Exp Allergy. 2016 Feb;46(2):194-263.

[2] Kardas G, et al. Front Pharmacol. 2020 Feb 14;11:47.

About masitinib

Masitinib is a new orally administered tyrosine kinase inhibitor that targets mast cells and macrophages, important cells for immunity, through inhibiting a limited number of kinases. Based on its unique mechanism of action, masitinib can be developed in a large number of conditions in oncology, in inflammatory diseases, and in certain diseases of the central nervous system. In oncology due to its immunotherapy effect, masitinib can have an effect on survival, alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Through its activity on mast cells and microglia and consequently the inhibition of the activation of the inflammatory process, masitinib can have an effect on the symptoms associated with some inflammatory and central nervous system diseases and the degeneration of these diseases.

About AB Science

Founded in 2001, AB Science is a pharmaceutical company specializing in the research, development and commercialization of protein kinase inhibitors (PKIs), a class of targeted proteins whose action are key in signaling pathways within cells. Our programs target only diseases with high unmet medical needs, often lethal with short term survival or rare or refractory to previous line of treatment.

AB Science has developed a proprietary portfolio of molecules and the Company’s lead compound, masitinib, has already been registered for veterinary medicine and is developed in human medicine in oncology, neurological diseases, and inflammatory diseases. The company is headquartered in Paris, France, and listed on Euronext Paris (ticker: AB).

Further information is available on AB Science’s website: .

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